Growing Pains
by Kirishtu
Summary: They're all grown up now and ready to take on the world. But are they really? It's time for Silk to reveal itself, but is the world ready for Silk? Part 4 of the Rebirth Quartet
1. Chapter 1

Originally published on aff 2007-06-29 - 2008-07-22

I.

The sound of small feet thundered on hard wood, a flash of obscene orange nearly missed by her grandparents. Momogi slid to a stop before her parents' bedroom and placed her hand on the knob, testing for traps. The last time she'd tried to sneak into her parents' room ended with her dangling from Karasu's hands upside down for a half-hour before her father finally took pity on her under threat of celibacy from her mother. Shikamaru hadn't been pleased and so he'd made her go deer hunting with her grandfather and the other elders of the Nara clan. She never wanted to gut a deer ever again. Shivering with the horrible memory of deer-gut smell, the young kunoichi carefully turned the knob of her parents' door and slipped inside as quiet as a shadow. Her parents lay unsuspecting on their bed, curled around each other in such a way Momogi knew her but would be sore for days if she got caught. She crept closer, crouching down so if they looked up they wouldn't see her, set her knees beneath her shoulders and lunged.

Momogi landed perfectly between Shikamaru and Kankurou. If perfect mean that she landed half on her mother's chest and her father's face. Shrieking in mad laughter, the twelve-year-old squirmed in her mother's grasp as her father mercilessly attacked her bare feet. She managed, in the heat of torture, to pull off a kawarimi no jutsu, a pillow now in Shikamaru's grasp instead of his daughter. Momogi reappeared at the foot of the bed, grinning at her parents.

"Come on, Mama!" Momogi grabbed at Shikamaru's hands so he couldn't pull the blanket back over his head. "You said we'd get there early! I let you sleep two extra hours! I'm not gonna get to become a genin because of you!"

Shikamaru groaned lightly and elbowed Kankurou in the chest to wake him up. Half-hearted grumbles accompanied Kankurou's rude awakening, even though his daughter was within earshot. Shikamaru kicked him off the bed before the first curse left his mouth and turned to his daughter.

"Go on ahead to the Academy. We'll be right behind you."

"You'd better be, Okaa-san." Momogi replied, disappearing in a puff of smoke and burning ozone.

Kankurou turned to look at his lover who stared back at him in almost exasperation. Still, Shikamaru only shook his head and moved to get up, Kankurou not too far behind. Indeed, they didn't want to be late, not when Momogi would be waiting for them and could enlist help for payback in the form of her many uncles and aunts. Namely, Ino and Naruto. The twelve-year-old was quite devious like that, and on more than one occasion her deviousness often cost her what little allowance she was given. Because one antic cost Ino her cigarettes and from then on, Momogi never bothered the elder woman when she had a cancer stick hanging from between her lush lips. Shikamaru had been the one to take up smoking after Asuma's death, but had kicked the habit because of Momogi. In turn, Ino picked it up, claiming she had no babies to worry about.

And so, about an hour later after Momogi's departure, Shikamaru and Kankurou made their way to the Academy, greeted by the other jounin and parents as they waited anxiously for their children to emerge. Ino and Naruto came closer once they spotted the odd couple, Naruto lifting his hand in greeting.

"Hey," Ino murmured around her smoking stick of paper.

"Hey yourself," Kankurou replied, eyeing the kunoichi's newest attire. Ino had shirked the jounin vest for another type, open in the front and passing her hips. She still wore her customary purple, but it was muted, and her hair was tied in a messy bun. Naruto looked pretty much the same in his orange and black jacket.

"So, did you get any genin this year?" Shikamaru asked and in response the pair smiled.

"Team Seven is Naruto," Replied Ino, grinning widely, "and I have Team Five. Momogi, Sunao, and Terazuma."

Shikamaru blanched a bit. "You're teaching my daughter?"

"Better me than, oh, I don't know, Lee."

Shikamaru shuddered and before he could reply, the doors to the Academy opened, spilling forth the newest generation of genin. Momogi held up her new hitai-ate proudly to her parents' view as she ran over to them, laughing when her father picked her up and swung her a bit before setting her back down.

Naruto glanced at his niece by deed before looking up to the sky, at all the little strands of webbing from newborn spiders, smiling at how they glinted like silk.

Naruto had no idea what that meant.


	2. Chapter 2

II.

Chakra signatures darted below him, small bright glows that flickered now and again. Uchiha Sasuke reclined in a large oak tree, secluded from view by the large leaves. His arms were folded over his chest, over a midnight black flak jacket. His blood-red eyes followed the three bright glows of chakra, keeping a mental tally of how many times each flickered. This exercise he'd thought of himself, at first for Kyo, whose eyes needed the special training, but then it changed into something the other two needed to learn. If they learned to hide their chakra signatures from both Kyo –and– Sasuke, no ANBU would ever be able to find them. Still, they were only children, only eleven to twelve, so flickering was as good as they were going to get for a while. Besides, this sort of exercise didn't sit quite well with Sasuke, but the Ichidaime Yunkage of Kinugakure had pretty much demanded it, and to make it fair all teams from One to Ten were required to learn the basic skill of chakra control. Sasuke knew for a face only his team, Team Nine, was actually following orders.

Sasuke rose, dropping silently from his perch to the branch below, searching out his genin. There was Kyo, snake-like eyes following the movement of Umi as she stalked Sei. Umi pounced and walked right into Sei's trap, leaving their sensei shaking his head and moving to help, effectively calling training to an end. The three children looked grateful, and Sasuke only gave them a wary smile. He extricated Umi from the chakra string and took a firm hold on her kimono to keep her from attacking the boys.

"Enough," Sasuke said quietly. "It's time to go back."

"Did we do good, sensei?" Kyo asked almost immediately, brightening when Sasuke nodded.

"Yes. And it's 'do well' Kyo, not 'do good'."

"Yeah, everyone knows that," Umi proclaimed with a huff. Sasuke gave her a little shake.

"Be nice. Home. Now."

The girl gave a short pout as she glared defiantly into those crimson eyes before she gathered her male companions and began to lead them home. Sasuke followed behind until they'd made it to the defensive wall of Kinugakure, the children heading for Umi's home first. It was something neither Kyo nor Sei really thought of, but every time they left the village, they would escort Umi home first. She never complained, though she was perfectly capable of defending herself. After all, she'd been taught by Haku and she was part of Sasuke's team. Sasuke watched them disappear before he went in search of his own sensei, climbing the tower and nodding to the few nin that occupied the ground floor reception at this late hour.

They let him pass without a sound. Sasuke paused before the door that led to Orochimaru's office and listened. Last time he barged in without listening (he knocked. The old bastard had gotten that much warning at least) he'd been greeted to a sight he never really wanted to see again. Hearing nothing that could indicate sex or otherwise, Sasuke knocked and entered. The Yunkage's office was surprisingly furnished compared to other offices Sasuke had seen. There was a desk, a large comfy chair (Sasuke knew this because he'd sat in it once as acting Yunkage when Orochimaru had come down with a mysterious "cold") behind it, a long couch that also served as a daybed, file cabinets, and assorted decorations. On one wall there were framed photos of nin who'd been killed in skirmishes, and on another photos of genin, jounin, and chuunin even a village photo of the original shinobi of Kinu. There was one of every team, a few family photos, even a graduation picture with the genin holding up their brand new hitai-ates. On the same wall were hand drawn pictures from children in the academy, civilian and shinobi. The Yunkage's desk was covered with manila folders, file folders, papers and paperweights, a lamp and an inkwell for pens and pencils. There was even an 'In' and 'Out' box, Kura-ou's idea of a practical joke. Sasuke stood still for a moment and took it all in, remembering when this used to be a bare room.

"I have a few new pictures from Akashi and his little group of friends." Orochimaru said, earning a raised eyebrow from his student.

"Really. Of what, now?"

"Typical things little kids draw."

Sasuke shook his head. Akashi was the son of – and little brother of Umi – Sasori and Deidara. His 'group' consisted of Aoi and Akio – Zabuza and Haku's and Meizu and Gozu's respectively – and Sasuke's nephews, though Satoru and Takeo were still a bit too young to actually do much with the three older boys. Which meant those drawings were anything from a harmless ninja tiger to a mushroom cloud created by someone with huge and physically impossible hair.

"How'd training go?" Orochimaru asked as Sasuke moved to sit on the couch.

"Flickers," Sasuke replied. "They're getting better – Sei flickers less often than Kyo and Umi – but they're kids still."

"Of course they are," came the saccharine reply. "That's why we teach them to be spies and killers and let them go kill other kids."

"Now you're being an asshole."

"Comes with the job."

Sasuke snorted. "Bullshit."

Orochimaru scowled at the younger man over a letter before he crumpled it and tossed it at the jounin. It hit Sasuke's chest and bounced, rolling into his palm.

"What's this?"

"Read it," Orochimaru said. "You don't have a choice, anyway. We're going."

Sasuke blinked and unfolded the paper, staring at the perfect lettering of a stenographer. He skimmed, read once slower, and again slower still. Finally, he lowered the paper and looked to the Yunkage.

"Chuunin exams?"

"Village wide."

"Don't have a choice."

"What I said."

"Great," Sasuke said without much conviction. "Are we ready?"

"Probably not, but then if we were, what fun would that be?"

Sasuke heaved a sigh and crumpled the letter again. "We're all going?"

"You, me, Kura-ou and the kids." Orochimaru said around a paper clip. Sasuke let out another sigh.

"This is going to suck."

"Tell me about it."


	3. Chapter 3

III

"Scoping out the competition, he said. A field trip, he said. What about this is a field trip!?" Umi shouted to the forest canopy, knuckles turning while around the rubber ball she held. Kyo and Sei glanced at each other and then back at their kunoichi teammate.

"We only learned we were going to represent Kinu in the chuunin exams two weeks ago." Kyo said.

"Yeah, and we're cheating, looking at Konoha." Umi said with a slight growl.

"We're not cheating. We're not even in the village," Sei reasoned, earning Umi's glare. She threw the ball at him – hard – and when it smacked his open palm, the boy winced hard, and his fingers closed around the orb. He dropped it into his other hand and flexed his smarting fingers, glaring at the girl. Only Kyo could tell Sei was frowning, since a black elastic cloth mask covered the lower half of his face. Umi never noticed as Kyo launched himself onto the smaller boy to keep him from throwing their ball at Umi's head.

The young kunoichi gave a frustrated cry and whirled on her teammates, her anger blowing out in a great whoosh of air from her lungs.

"You two are so gay," Umi said with a grin, arms folded over her chest. Both boys glared at her and Sei finally got loose enough to fling the ball at the kunoichi's head. It struck her forehead, glancing off her hitai-ate with a resounding clang, and bounced into the underbrush, disappearing.

"Go get the ball, Umi!" Sei called.

"Yeah, go get the ball!" Kyo echoed.

Umi snarled at them enough to know she was going to get them later. Still, she slipped into the brush, looking for their ball. It wasn't fair, Umi thought as she searched high and low for the ball. Kyo and Sei got away with –everything– and sensei always scolded her. She paused and snorted. Sensei was always fair, especially to Umi. He never played favourites. Not really, anyway. Sensei had two personalities; their sensei and their grown-up friend they could play with. As sensei, he kept them alive, protected them and taught them. As their friend, he treated them like siblings, taking sides and play fighting with them.

Umi gave a sigh and bent to check under a bulge of roots, grinning when she saw the white rubber of the ball. She got to her knees and reached for it, her fingertips brushing against it. She shifted, channeled a bit of chakra to her fingertips, then to the ball, and stood up in victory, the orb held high above her head. She turned to head back to her teammates but froze, listening. Somewhere out there was movement, a person. Umi had to leave, she knew it, but natural curiosity overcame her, and the adventurous kunoichi moved to discover what she had heard.

There in a clearing was a brunette girl, red faced as she clung to a yowling cat, looking plenty angry as she clutched at the bundle of fur. Umi giggled and slapped her hand over her mouth when the other girl stopped to look at the direction Umi was hiding.

"Hello?"

Umi studied the other girl for a long while. The brunette was a kunoichi, a Konoha one, and Umi knew she should've turned around and went back to Kyo and Sei. After all, she had no idea if this girl was alone. Her sensei or teammates could be around, waiting.

"Hello?" the brunette called again.

Umi grinned and stepped out into the clearing, smiling. "Hello."

The brunette girl blinked, moving over to the blonde and allowing them to stare at each other, studying. Umi was the first to break the staring contest, giggling. "I'm Umi. Who're you?"

"I'm Momogi." The brunette replied. "I'm from Konoha. I've never seen you before."

"Ah, um, that's because I'm not from here. I'm from another village far away."

"Really?"

"Yep! We're on a mission here right now, but we'll be coming back for the chuunin exams."

Momogi grinned. "Really? Cool! I'm gonna be in the chuunin exams too!"

Umi held out her hand, grinning. "Then we'll do great! We can beat all the boys!"

Momogi took her hand and shook it, mouth opening to say something else, but she paused, eyes widening at the sight of something behind Umi. Instinctively, Umi grabbed for a kunai and used her size and speed for an advantage, only to have her wrist caught. As she stared up into swirling black and red eyes, all she could do was smile sheepishly.

"Tell your friend good-bye, Umi." Her sensei said in a voice that told Umi he wasn't very pleased with her. "We need to be going now."

Umi flushed scarlet and turned to Momogi. "Sorry, Momo-chan. I've gotta go."

Momogi smiled a little. "It's okay. I'd better get back too, or my sensei's going to blow a gasket. See you at the chuunin exams!"

Umi winced as she felt her sensei's grip on her wrist twitch, and waved as Momogi disappeared into the forest with the struggling cat tucked under her arm. Umi turned then to look at Sasuke and found him rubbing his temple in that nervous gesture he'd acquired some time ago. The gesture only served to tell Umi Sasuke-sensei wasn't going to kill her. Maiming was still an option.

"What were you thinking?" Sasuke asked finally, and Umi gave a mumbled answer. "Umi."

"I just wanted to make a friend, okay? There wasn't anybody around but us!"

"That doesn't make it okay," Sasuke replied, crouching to be eye level with the girl. Umi glared into his eyes defiantly, knowing all the while if the Uchiha so chose, he could destroy her with one shot of the Tsukuyomi.

"I know," Umi winced at the sound of the whine in her voice, "but I just wanted to have a friend that wasn't an idiot."

"You mean male."

"Exactly."

Sasuke straightened and sighed, placing a hand on Umi's head. He ruffled her hair before pushing her along. He'd let her slide this time – maybe make her do an extra lesson with Zabuza as punishment – but still he wondered if something horrible would come from this chance meeting. The Konoha kunoichi hadn't recognized him beyond the 'scary man' thought that whisked across her pretty face, so maybe he was just being paranoid.

Sometimes, he hated being a jounin.

Sasuke collected the boys and began the run back to Kinu, breathing a bit easier when the team crossed the border from Hi no Kuni to Suzaku no Kuni. With Kinugakure registered now – boy, had that been difficult. Kura-ou would kill him if she found out he'd henged her body for it – maybe Sasuke could just relax while training his three genin.

Yeah, spit in one hand and wish in the other, he thought bitterly, see which one fills up faster.

Sasuke herded his genin into the village and bade them not to go far. Now the real training would begin, even if the chuunin exams were still months away. They would be prepared or Sasuke would beat them himself.

God, he was going to need help, be it divine or –

Sasuke grinned as he saw a dark haired man surrounded by four children, each pre-genin. He approached slowly and the man glanced up at him, watching warily.

"Haku," Sasuke crooned out, "want to help me train some genin?"

Haku's lips twitched. "Why, of course, Sasuke."

Punishment well in hand, Sasuke and Haku discussed their plants, leaving the four boys around them blinking in confusion, and Akashi in particular wondering what his big sister Umi had done now.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Momogi rubbed at the bandage around her forearm and glared at the cat that was still panicking, but now in the arms of his owner. Ino stood behind her team and endured the thanks with them even though she wished she could just smack the woman and set her straight. As a jounin she could probably get away with it but 'There was a fly' probably wouldn't work in this situation. A bee, maybe. A wasp. Yeah, a wasp. She'd run the risk of Shino giving her the silent treatment if only to get the woman to stop strangling that damn cat.

After Ino and her genin were well away from the missions office did she pull out a cancer stick and light it. Ino had a very unique way of smoking, Momogi had discovered – she didn't. Her sensei would light it, put it between her lips and let it hang there. Once in a while she might puff, but Momogi knew that her aunt Hinata hated Ino smoking heavily. And with Neji out with Gaara most of the time, Hinata pretty much was law in the Hyuuga household.

Momogi didn't know why they'd been given such a crappy mission – they'd been genin for nearly more than a year. They had plenty of D and C rank missions under their belts and one or two B rank missions. They weren't babies anymore. But she kept her mouth shut and settled for glaring until Ino hurried her team out of the building and to their own homes. Ino didn't bother to walk the boys home; only Momogi, so the little kunoichi knew something was wrong. Maybe Ino-sensei knew of her traipse into the forest alone to find that stupid cat, and now she was going to tell her parents. Momogi thought she was going to faint in relief when she saw her assorted aunts and uncles in the living room of the Nara clan house, pouring over old pictures.  
The little girl could easily pick out her mother and father – Shikamaru and Kankurou – in the photographs, as well as Naruto. She had a little trouble finding Ino and Hinata, and there was Neji and Choji and Sakura. Kiba and Akamaru and Shino were in one photograph and there was Tsunade-baa-san and Shizune.

Momogi wiggled between her mother's legs and leaned against him, picking out more people she knew around the village. Kakashi-nii and Iruka-sensei, Kurenai-sensei with Asumako as a baby, and even one of Asumako and Asagi on their first birthday. There were people she didn't recognize, but the way adults spoke about them meant they must have been important.

"Who's that?" Momogi asked, pointing to an old photograph of Naruto, Sakura, and a brunette boy she'd never seen before.

"That's Sasuke." Naruto replied. "He died a long time ago."

Momogi frowned. "No, he didn't."

The silence that followed scared her more than gutting deer ever would. She looked helplessly at her mother and all Shikamaru could do was wrap his arms around her.

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw him." Momogi answered honestly. "But he didn't look like that. His hair was longer and his eyes were red with little black swirlies."

The adults stared at her, blankly, and Momogi wondered if she was in trouble now. Finally, Naruto crouched before her and smiled. It still didn't make her feel any better.

"Where did you see this man, Momogi?"

"Um, the woods."

Ino shot her a sharp look and instantly became sensei, growling down at the twelve-year-old. "And who said you could go there?"

"Mission," Momogi helplessly mumbled. Ino wasn't going to let it go, though.

"If this is the man we think he is, he could have easily killed you! He's very dangerous, Momogi!"

"But he didn't hurt me! And he didn't look so dangerous!"

"Just because it doesn't look dangerous doesn't mean it isn't." Kankurou growled at his daughter. She didn't even attempt a pout, just glared. Shikamaru shook her a bit.

"Do you realize how lucky you are?" Shikamaru asked. "He wouldn't give you a second thought if he decided to kill you."

"He wasn't going to hurt me." She tried again helplessly, but now no one was listening to her. The adults were moving now, leaving to don their ninja gear to go out and find this strange man called Sasuke. Momogi watched her parents from the stairs, watched them talk, before she turned away and slipped into her own room. She moved to her window and looked up into the darkening sky. She wouldn't tell her parents, but she really hoped Sasuke got away, if only because Umi was with him.

Sasuke sneezed harshly, blinking for a moment to reorient himself. He heard a chorus of voices blessing him from the living room of his home and shook his head before he picked up the bowl of freshly popped popcorn and moved into the room where the kids were, handing Takeo the bowl before he settled on the couch and was promptly assaulted by Satoru and Akio, both of the small boys working to get a good spot against the man before the movie started.

Sometimes, Sasuke hated being a baby sitter, but it gave him something to do rather than running around in the forest being a paranoid lunatic. Someone who wouldn't think twice about murder already filled that job description.

He sneezed again.

"Bless you, Sasuke-nii!" The little boys chorused again.

Sasuke sagged a bit and smiled. "Thanks."


	5. Chapter 5

V

"There wasn't a sign of him, was there?" Tsunade asked Naruto and Sakura, the two who had gone into the woods to find their lost sheep.

"Just a trace of chakra," Sakura replied. "But it was feminine."

"So unless he got a sex change, Momogi was seeing things."

"Getting a sex change won't change the feel of the chakra, idiot." Sakura growled to Naruto. The blonde shrugged.

"He may not have been alone," Naruto reasoned.

"But why would he have a girl with him?"

"Tsunade turned to look at Sakura. "Breeding comes to mind."

"Not Sasuke." Naruto said. "Not yet, anyway. He wants to kill Itachi more than anything."

"Who's to say he hasn't?"

"Well, we definitely would've heard –something–."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "You don't go and kill a S-class nukenin without some sort of commotion."

Tsunade frowned and leaned back in her chair. She looked away from the two jounin and out the window onto her village. With Sasuke's apparent reappearance, and his subsequent encounter with Momogi, Tsunade's first thought that he was looking for another vessel. But why Momogi? Or maybe it wasn't Momogi he was after, and instead, was trying to earn her trust to get into the village. There were so many variables, so many choices, and Tsunade wanted to contend with all of them. She finally sighed and looked back at Naruto and Sakura.

"Take Kiba and Akamaru and see if you can get a scent. I don't think he's in the area, but better safe than sorry. Recall all genin teams that are outside the training and post extra ANBU guards." Tsunade said finally. "It's all we can do at this point without causing alarm."

"Discreetly then," Naruto half-agreed, turning on his heel and leaving the office stiffly.

"Sakura?"

The rose-haired woman sighed. "I checked her out. Momogi's fine. No genjustu on her anywhere. If she did meet Sasuke, he never intended her any harm."

"There's a but, isn't there?"

"Momogi met someone, I'm sure. It was faint, but the same chakra signature we found on the meeting spot I found her on her." Sakura paused for a moment. "Like she shook hands."

"Is she in danger?" Tsunade had to ask.

Sakura shook her head. "No more danger than any other genin."

Tsunade sighed. "Tell Ino to keep an eye on her anyway."

Sakura nodded and left the office then, leaving the Godaime alone. Tsunade sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes, giving a soft growl. She knew all too well what had happened at the chuunin exams almost nine years ago, involving Otogakure and Sunagakure, and Sasuke's betrayal. With yet another exam swiftly approaching, she prayed Orochimaru – whether he was in Sasuke's body or not – wasn't planning another coup. She would have to double-shift her ANBU during that time, she decided, and put her jounin on high alert. She finally rose and went to find Shizune.

God, she needed a drink.

"You punish her?" Orochimaru asked Sasuke, golden eyes centered on the course set up by the school, watching children at play.

"She's currently with Zabuza," Sasuke replied, "learning survival skills."

"And the other two?"

"Down there on the genin course. They'll attempt the chuunin, and then I'll have Kimimaru on my ass after they get sick falling in the water."

Orochimaru laughed at his apprentice's pain. Kimimaru had become like a mother to Kyo and Sei, getting on Sasuke's case to take better care of the children. And as always, those Sharingan eyes would blank and he would only nod. Sasuke took good care of his genin, better than some. He trained them, stepped back, and only helped when they needed it. Orochimaru knew Team Nine had the most high-ranked missions under their belts simply for that reason. Umi, Kyo, and Sei were extraordinary children, and they were ready for the next level.

"They'll always be a team." Sasuke said softly. "They'll never allow themselves to be separated."

Orochimaru hummed. "Then this will test them. They can't come to each other's aid in the chuunin exams, and they may end up fighting each other."

"Haku and I have taken care of that."

Orochimaru had nothing to say to that. He studied the young man beside him for alone while, before he turned back to the course to watch the children play. He smiled after a moment and turned, a parting hand set on Sasuke's shoulder.

"I'll handle Kimimaru," he said as he left the brunette, heading back for his office. There was something he needed to look into before he could make a clean decision. There was time yet.


	6. Chapter 6

VI

Momogi gave a strangled yell of anger when her two teammates shoved her down. The boys only laughed at her misfortune and took off, only to stumble into the trap the young kunoichi had set. She picked herself up and brushed off her clothes – taking extra care with her orange jacket – and grinned at the boys. She stuck her tongue out at them as they yelled at her, shutting up when Ino-sensei appeared, looking from them to the girl. Finally, Ino shook her head and gave a helpless sort of smile.

"Well done, Momogi. You might actually have a chance." Ino said, watching the little girl frown. She blinked, head tilting.

"What's wrong?"

"I promised Umi we'd beat all the boys." Momogi said as she watched her teammates, arms folded over her chest. Ino blinked.

"Who's Umi, Momogi?" Ino asked. Her eyebrow rose as Momogi flinched.

"A friend," the young kunoichi finally replied. "She doesn't live here."

"Where does she live?"

"I dunno. Somewhere else."

Momogi moved forward then to release the boys from her trap and turned back to face her sensei, her eyes searching the woman's face.

"You're gonna tell my mom, aren't you?" the girl accused. Ino gave her an innocent look.

"Why would I? Umi's your friend. It's up to you to tell your mom."

Momogi's emerald eyes hinted that she didn't quite believe her sensei, but she shrugged and pulled on her orange jacket to right it. Finally, Ino released her genin back to the safety of their own homes and went to find Sakura. The blonde kunoichi waited in the hospital's admittance room for the rose-haired woman, chewing on one unlit cigarette, mind working out her little report. When Sakura appeared, Ino waved at her.

"You're not injured, so what are you doing here?" Sakura asked in an almost joking fashion. Ino sighed.

"I have a name for you. Momogi has an unknown friend named Umi."

"Doesn't ring a bell, but I'll look into it." Sakura said. "Don't count on an immediate answer."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ino nodded her thanks and took her leave to wander Konoha before her restlessness took her to the Hyuuga mansion. Hinata was probably busy, but Ino would drop in anyway. She sighed and looked behind her at the village. She really hoped there wasn't going to be another coup.

She didn't want to make Momogi cry.

Umi slumped against Sasuke's leg, groaning in exaggerated pain. Her sensei only shook his head and continued to write his report. Kyo and Sei sat before him, sharpening their kunai. Umi shifted, popped her elbows and crawled over to her friends.

"Senbon are easier," she said.

Sei's eyes flicked to her. "For you. But we can't handle those as well as kunai. Besides, you really want us to copy you?"

"Point." Umi agreed. She looked up to Sasuke as he folded up their latest mission report and tucked it into his flak jacket for later delivery. "How much longer, Sasuke-sensei?"

"We'll be leaving for Konoha in two days. You need to have everything ready."

Kyo looked up then, blinking his expressive snake-like eyes. "Um, Orochimaru-sama is coming too, right?"

Sasuke nodded. "The four of us, Kura-ou and Orochimaru."

"You think we'll win?"

"The chuunin exams aren't based on a win-lose system." Sasuke said. "Your actions and attitudes are observed and judged. Those are what determines your promotion, if you get one or not."

"So we could win our fights, but we won't get to be chuunin?" Umi asked, frowning. "That's stupid."

"That's how it is." Sasuke replied. "Finish up. It's late."

The children stuck out their tongues at him and Sasuke replied in kind before he left them in the den and went to deliver the report, sliding the paper under the office door. He retreated then, out of the tower, heading back home to make sure his genin had actually gone. He paused and glanced over his shoulder, smiling at the kunoichi behind him.

"Are you ready?"

Kura-ou tossed her head. "Of course I am. I'm ready to see Konoha, even if I'm doing it from behind a mask."

"You'll be the only bodyguard he's got."

"You'll be there. I just came to give you this." Kura-ou handed the brunette a small packet of papers. "A merchant brought them today with his belongings."

"It's a bingo book." Sasuke said, partly surprised.

"Sort of. Konohagakure is quietly looking for you and Umi. So just don't do anything stupid where I can't save your ass." Kura-ou flicked Sasuke a grin and moved away, leaving Sasuke alone to plan his team's arrival for the exams. He rubbed his temples again and sighed, entering his home to find his genin indeed gone and Satoru and Takeo packing their night bags for an extended sleepover with Aoi and Akio.

Sasuke patted the boys on their heads and smiled. "Gonna behave this time?"

"Yeah!" Takeo cried happily. "Aoi said if we did, he'd show us some magic!"

Sasuke shook his head, sighed, and knelt to help them finish up. That night, as he lay in bed listening to his nephews sleep, he closed his eyes and dismissed his ever-present Sharingan. Looking into the dark room, he finally felt truly vulnerable. Amazing, really, what children can do to you.


	7. Chapter 7

VII

Tsunade stood with her hands clasped behind her back, staring out at the village of Konoha. Already, villages from other lands had begun to arrive – Suna being one of the first to arrive, as Temari wanted to visit with Kankurou and Momogi – and had begun to fill up the guest residences. The genin had begun to make friends and Ino reportedly had followed Momogi around when the preliminary meetings had begun. Her ANBU were on high alert, invisible on roofs and walls, even among the people, henged as children or the elderly. Still no sign of Sasuke or this mysterious Umi, but Tsunade refused to relax. Just because they hadn't been seen didn't mean they weren't here.

Tsunade finally left her office to go and greet this year's potential chuunin and their senseis along for the ride. She also wanted to see Temari in her Kazekage get up. Gaara had abdicated to his sister once he discovered Neji was pregnant, in order to spend more time with Neji and their children. They were only toddlers now, but they were showing the spunk their parents had. She sighed and found the teams and 'Kages waiting for her, a smile plastering itself on her face. Her words – her well-thought speech, dammit – gurgled and died in her throat when the last team arrived, a blonde little girl dragging a boy that was nearly two heads taller than she into the throng, sheepishly followed by another boy, blonde strands falling over his covered face. This commotion drew all eyes to them as they found a seat, the girl tossing her hair and frowning at the crowd.

"Sorry," she said with a bit of attitude before a long-fingered hand pushed her down into a seat. Tsunade felt every jounin in the room tense, even those who didn't know him, and prepare to fight a predator. And a predator he was, brunette hair pulled back into a tail, Sharingan eyes slowly swirling as he stared down at the girl, every movement calculated to the last muscle twitch. Tsunade felt a shiver run down her spine. Sasuke had grown, changed, and every line of his body proved this. He was unlike anything the other shinobi were used to, body encased in black to hide the strength he had – and his weaponry – and this is what put them on edge. He calmly looked up at Tsunade – and Tsunade alone – and gave a short bow.

"I apologize for our lateness. And her attitude."

Tsunade fought not to stutter, and watched Sasuke assume a relaxed position behind his genin. He did nothing other than that, just stood there like a statue and waited. Tsunade fought down a shiver and coughed to get everyone's attention back to her.  
"Welcome," she began, "to Konohagakure. You're all here to participate in our chuunin exam. Not all of you will make the cut, but your efforts will be remembered. Now, please, enjoy yourselves. The exams will begin in three days."

Chatter erupted around her, mostly the children, and the eyes of all jounin on Sasuke. He merely shifted, hauled up his genin, and moved to leave. Tsunade's gaze then fell to the tallest boy, just as he glanced up. She froze and the boy dropped his gaze again, grabbed onto the blonde boy's hand and disappeared. When Tsunade could breathe again, she finally understood why Sasuke made this appearance. He wanted to show her that Orochimaru was back in the body of a child. He wanted her to know the power he held over the village. Tsunade turned away to find Shizune and bade the woman to collect her ANBU. She couldn't allow her village to come to harm, even if the body Orochimaru wore was an innocent child's.

Momogi broke away from her teammates when she saw familiar blonde and bolted toward Umi. The girl turned in time to catch the brunette, both girls going down in a laughing pile between Umi's teammates and sensei.

"Now who's gay?" Sei asked, arms crossed over his chest. Umi glared at him and tried to kick the shorter boy, missing by a wide margin.

"Shut up!" Umi yelled, grinning. She pushed herself up, and helped Momogi up, brushing herself off. Sei only shook his head and sighed.

"You shut up," muttered Kyo, prudently hiding behind Sei before Umi's gaze fell to him.

Momogi tugged on her friend's hand. "These are your teammates?"

"Yeah," Umi grinned. "My best friends in the whole world, too. This is Kyo – he never looks up so don't get offended – and this is Sei. Guys, this is Momogi."

The boys gave a soft hello and Umi turned up to look at Sasuke, blinking. "Sensei…?"

Sasuke sighed. "Don't destroy anything, all right?"

Umi grinned. "Promise!"

Finally, Sasuke nodded and Umi grinned, turning to Momogi. The brunette matched her grin and the two bolted away, laughing wildly, no doubt ready to destroy something despite orders. Sasuke set his hands on his hips and sighed, shaking his head in defeat. Kyo tugged on his sleeve, a comforting gesture even though it did little good to set the brunette man at ease. Sasuke cracked a helpless smile at his two genin and rubbed Kyo's head.

"Let's go get something to eat," Sasuke finally said. "Then we'll go train you two."

"Umi'll miss out." Sei replied. He paused, then nodded. "Okay."

Sasuke gave the boys a short smile. "Take Kyo and go find a place then."

Kyo frowned. "You're not coming?"

"I'll catch up."

Sei shook his head in not-quite confusion and took hold of Kyo's hand, tugging the taller boy away from their sensei, distracting the taller with a barrage of questions about what he wanted to eat. Sasuke turned then to look up at the silver-haired jounin balancing too easily on the roof of the building beside him, staring down at him like a hawk. Sharingan met Sharingan as Kakashi stared at Sasuke, the silver-haired jounin beginning to tense the longer the staring match continued. Sasuke shifted once and felt his Sharingan slowly change, the tomoe coming together in a spoked triangle and spinning like a wheel in a hypnotic circle.

"We're here only for the exam." Sasuke whispered. "We mean no harm."

When Kakashi blinked, Sasuke was gone as if he'd never been standing below. He was left, though, with a feeling of satisfaction that he'd determined Sasuke's presence in Konoha. When he went to make his report, he was confused by his mixed feelings, yet he couldn't help but say that Sasuke's true intentions were harmless. What had Sasuke done to him?


	8. Chapter 8

VIII

Naruto paced like a caged lion around Tsunade's office. He'd been called into the office just before he heard that Sasuke was in the village. He'd been locked in, and any jutsu he tried didn't work. So he paced and growled and snarled and imagined Sasuke dying beneath his hands. It didn't make him feel any better, but it gave him something to do while he waited. His genin were gods knew where, goofing off while their sensei got a tongue-lashing from the Hokage. He knew what it would be about, too. 'Don't go after Sasuke,' 'don't instigate anything'. So everyone else in the village got to take a pot shot at the bastard while Naruto lingered in la la land pretending everything was peachy keen.

No fucking way.

If anyone fought Sasuke, it would be him, god dammit.

So he waited for Tsunade to get her butt into her office to lecture him so he could smile and nod and then get out to hunt the bastard down anyway. When Tsunade did show up, she looked incredibly pissed off, so Naruto just stood at attention and kept his face blank.

"I don't want you or anyone else to have contact with Sasuke." Tsunade finally said. "There's something about him that's different."

"It couldn't possibly be the snake-bastard, could it?" Naruto asked, keeping a straight face so she couldn't yell at him.

"It's not Orochimaru. We know his whereabouts. It's something with his Sharingan, or that's what Kakashi believes."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "I asked Kakashi to determine Sasuke's intentions. He returned stating they were only here for the exams, but something had shaken his confidence."

"Like a genjustu," Naruto reasoned.

"Like, but not exactly. If you do go seek him out, Naruto," Tsunade began, giving her jounin a piercing glare, "do not under any circumstances look him in the eye."

Naruto nodded and left the Hokage's office, armed with new information. All he had to do was incapacitate Sasuke's eyes and he'd be home free. He only had to find him now and observe his target before he could attack. While a part of him screamed to just run in and get it over with, his logical side stated patience. Sasuke wouldn't be taken down so easily. Naruto needed the fight to go his way or he'd be better off not instigating a fight at all.

They were well hidden, not too close or too far from their targets. The girl who had been with them earlier had left, presumably to get food, but they weren't concerned with the girl. They weren't concerned with the blonde boy either. The pair they were concerned with consisted of the brunette boy and the sensei. Each seemed innocent enough, but each ANBU member who had been given this duty knew otherwise.

Each target was to be watched and the boy eliminated.

The ANBU crouching behind bushes close to the trio had already discerned several ways of completing their orders.

"Watcha doin'?" a child's voice asked from behind.

The group of ANBU whirled and stared at the blonde girl, her arms laden with bags full of food, and wondered how in the name of hell she'd been able to sneak up on them. Without further prompting, each vanished, leaving the girl incredibly confused.

Sighing at the idiocy of adults, Umi promptly stepped through the bushes and sidled up to her sensei and teammates. She handed out the food, showing off her memorization skills, and settled down to eat, reviewing theory that had been practiced today. With only one day left now before the chuunin exams began, Sasuke wanted to make sure the three of them were up to speed and ready to handle any obstacle that came their way. He held no illusions that there were genin who would be bigger and stronger, and so he needed to make his genin smarter. They had already begun to anticipate the enemy's movements, but now they needed to go a step further and counter instead of defend.

They were Kinugakure shinobi. It was time to make their village proud of them.


	9. Chapter 9

IX

Tsunade rubbed her face and read the report again. Each ANBU she'd sent to kill the boy had been thwarted, either because the boy was with his sensei or one of his friends. And she'd begun to get increasingly worried about those friends, for the girl had been able to approach the ANBU undetected. It wasn't something a genin was supposed to be able to do. She was growing increasingly concerned with the abilities of Sasuke as well. He hadn't put one hair out of line, always visible, always reachable. He wasn't arousing suspicion at all, which increasingly frustrated her jounin.

How could they kill the traitor if he's done –nothing– to warrant death?

There was a soft knock at her door and Shizune poked her head in. "Tsunade-sama, the 'Kages have arrived."

"Show them in, Shizune."

Tsunade did her best to look good as the 'Kages of the other participating villages filed in and found seats before her desk. Her eyes met Temari's and they shared a little smile. Two X chromosomes in a room full of Y's. There would be a logical conversation after all.

"As you all know," Tsunade began, "there is a new village participating this year. Kinugakure is represented by Uchiha Sasuke, Tsukiyoshi Umi, Hanayo Sei, and Kyo."

"Uchiha Sasuke, formerly of Konohagakure, correct?"

Tsunade nodded. "He defected to Orochimaru nine years ago."

"So where is Orochimaru?"

"We believe he is inhabiting the body of the boy, Kyo." Temari stated. "Based on evidence of the boy's eyes."

"They're identical to the man's then," the Mizukage asked softly.

"Quite identical, but I can assure you, Kyo isn't me."

All eyes looked up then, growing wide at the sight of Orochimaru standing dressed as a 'Kage, flanked by two ANBU with black masks, a man and a woman. Tsunade rose – as did every other 'Kage in the room, but Orochimaru and his bodyguards didn't budge at the obvious threat.

"What's the phrase?" Orochimaru asked. "Oh, yes, we come in peace."

"Don't get snide," The Hokage snapped. "What do you want?"

"Only for you to call off your hounds. Kyo's innocent – his only crime is that he was born to the wrong family." Orochimaru said. "We've come only for the chuunin exams. Why bother with Konoha when I've got Kinu?"

There was a cough from behind him, and Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Yes, I realize that was a stupid thing to say."

Despite herself, Tsunade felt her lip twitch, fighting down a smile. "Your keepers are certainly wise."

"They're under strict orders to keep me from doing anything stupid." Orochimaru replied dryly.

"Doing a bang up job, then," Temari said. The female ANBU shifted her weight and cocked her head. The male just made a placating gesture and heaved a silent sigh.

"Why should we even let you participate?" Another 'Kage asked, earning a sharp look from Orochimaru.

"Because I'm under the impression the chuunin exams are open to all villages. As Kinugakure is a village – however young – and I her Yunkage – which makes her a village whether you like it or not – the village and her shinobi deserve a fair chance to show off their skills as the other shinobi villages."

"And you swear you mean no harm?" Tsunade asked, steepling her fingers before her mouth. Orochimaru's eyes met hers and for a while there was silence before the man spoke.

"I swear on the grave of Sarutobi."

The silence after that was profound, but Tsunade relaxed and sat back in her seat. "I'll call off my ANBU then, but be aware, they will still watch you."

Orochimaru nodded. "Wouldn't expect anything less."

As he turned to leave, Tsunade stopped him. "Aren't you going to join us?"

"I would ask for a private meeting with you at a later date." Orochimaru replied without turning around. "There are things I wish to discuss with you."

The Yunkage and his bodyguard ANBU left the Hokage's office then, leaving the other 'Kages in quite the tiff. Tsunade had a hell of a time calming them down, even with Temari's help. After her office was empty and Tsunade was alone, she couldn't help but wonder what Orochimaru wanted. Those black-masked ANBU disturbed her though she was loathe to admit it. If she were to have an audience with Orochimaru, Tsunade decided she'd bring two of her own bodyguards. It was only fair after all. He got his and she got hers – nobody had to die.

The Godaime gave a sigh and rose to lock up her office for the night. Tomorrow began the chuunin exams – the written exam that seemed to eliminate more potential shinobi than the Forest did. She'd have a time trying to keep Naruto from hunting down Sasuke now. She had a feeling she was going to need quite a but of alcohol before she dealt with her blonde jounin, if only so she could claim inebriation at the time of their argument. It was going to be a long couple of weeks.


	10. Chapter 10

X

Naruto was close to screaming by the time the written exams were over. With the Forest of Death next, he would've assumed Sasuke would've made an appearance if only to help out his genin. Instead, the Uchiha remained ever elusive and Naruto was going to tear his hair out in frustration. It was already bad enough that the Silk genin had scored in the top ten on the written exam, better than the Konoha genin combined.

He searched for Sasuke among the clumps of genin that waited outside the fence and saw nothing. He spotted Momogi chatting easily with the blonde kunoichi from Silk, the boys not too far away from their female teammates. No jounin, save for Anko and several ANBU, was in sight. He was about to leave for the tower in the center of the forest when he saw it, a simple flash of black. Sasuke appeared before Momogi and offered an apologetic smile as he drew Umi away, collecting the other two and drawing them aside.

He was speaking, making gentle gestures, and each of the genin nodded in return. Naruto felt his lip curl. Tsunade was being played for a fool. Orochimaru couldn't have been in her office that night when she'd had the meeting. He must be the boy. It was the only possible reason that Sasuke was never around. It would be simple to henge into the old snake-bastard and even easier to proclaim peace since no one would suspect an innocent boy. Still, Tsunade had pulled her jounin off the boy, taking Orochimaru at face value.

Naruto could remedy that though. There was always a chance the kid could get killed in the Forest. He'd just need a little help, that's all. Naruto vanished, looking happier for the first time since this whole thing started.

With their sensei's instructions clear in their minds, Team Nine of Kinugakure was ready for their first set of trials in the Forest of Death. It seemed as though they had an unfair advantage over the other teams because they had been doing survival training since before they actually became genin. Still, Sasuke-sensei had drilled into their heads the need for caution. Things would try to kill them in the forest – people and animals. He'd instructed them not to kill, only to defend. Still, if their lives depended on it, then they were allowed to use lethal force.

With Umi in the lead and one scroll in their possession, Team Nine traversed the Forest looking for an opportunity to take their second scroll and get to the Tower. They talked and joked, being children instead of true shinobi. They didn't need to pay attention, not with Kyo's eyesight. This was how they discovered they were being followed.

Perhaps it was their training, given by the many adults of Kinu besides their sensei. Perhaps it was an innate sense. Perhaps it was just pure, unadulterated luck. Either way, they split up and began to lay their trap. Thin chakra threads created a spider web between two large trees, Kyo acting as bait standing on a far branch just in the center of the web. Or at least it looked that way, for it was all an optical illusion. Sei stood nearby, chameleoned to the tree bark, ready to pull his friend out of harm's way.  
They weren't sure what they were expecting. Another team, maybe, or an animal. But to see ANBU – ANBU! – jump right at Kyo, well, it was a little unnerving. So imagine the surprise of three pre-teen genin when those famed ANBU, the Black Ops, the best of the best, blundered right into the chakra thread web. For the longest time the three stood together, open mouthed in awe, looking quizzically at each other and then back to the trapped nin.

"Wow," Umi breathed. "You're a bunch of idiots."

Sei elbowed her. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, gloat later when they can't kill us." Kyo said, finally looking up at those ANBU and almost glaring. Sighing, Umi nodded and led her team away, right into an ambush by a team from the Land of Snow. It was almost sad how quickly Kinugakure's Team Nine recovered and retaliated, Umi calmly fixing her ponytail before she plucked the scroll from the Snow kunoichi's obi and smiled, holding the scroll up to her teammates in victory.

They ran, laughing, toward the tower in the center of the forest, not realizing the storm that would come in their wake.

Tsunade and Orochimaru stood together, watching the live feed in amazement. Temari had promptly collapsed in a chair and had been staring at some point above the monitor for some time now. Coughing, Tsunade turned to Orochimaru.

"You're sure they're genin?"

"I admit they've had extensive training, but I'm positive they're genin."

"They beat the Sand Siblings' time by at least an hour."

Orochimaru choked on his air. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation."

"Yeah," Temari finally said. "They're miracles."

"Somehow, I don't think so. They're determined and they never take no for an answer," The Yunkage murmured. "They probably found some unsuspecting team, murdered them, and ran all the way here."

Tsunade snorted. "That's more plausible."

Orochimaru shook his head. "The real show hasn't started yet. We still have the preliminaries to get through."

There was an awkward silence that permeated the room and even the ANBU guards shifted uneasily.


	11. Chapter 11

XI

Hinata stared down at the three faces staring up at her, wondering what to say. These children were the first to arrive, but she couldn't tell them that, could she? The girl tossed her hair and sighed.

"Look, we're first, right?" she asked. "Okay, so we can rest up. What're we gonna do, break something?"

"Umi," one of the boys admonished. "Be nice."

"That was nice."

Hinata coughed to get their attention before they began to argue. "You know the rules of the preliminaries?"

The girl, Umi, gave an annoyed sigh. "Yes! Our sensei explained it all to us! We're twelve, not stupid."

Despite herself, Hinata found herself starting to smile. "Well, if you understand."

Hinata let the group into the arena then, finally smiling at their gasps of amazement. She shifted and looked up once, then shot her eyes back up, smile disappearing in favour of surprise as black and red eyes stared back at her. He was reclining on the catwalk, sitting as easily and relaxed as if he'd been standing. Uchiha Sasuke gave Hinata a lazy smile and got to his feet. With the grace becoming of a Hyuuga, Hinata quietly fled. In her wake, the genin thundered up the steps to their sensei, laughing as they slid to a halt before him and sat down.

"You're early," Sasuke said easily.

"We're first," Kyo replied.

"I know. Orochimaru called me the moment you set foot in here."

"We don't need to be babysat," Umi piped, arms over her chest. "We took out ANBU and genin today."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "ANBU?"

"They were following us. And we trapped them in our spider web." Sei said. He tilted his head a moment later. "'Course, they're probably loose by now."

"Probably," Sasuke agreed softly. "You three are certainly a headache."

"It's in our job description, sensei."

"So I'm aware." Sasuke shook his head. "Rest up while you can. This is the part where you'll be showing off, but remember, you three need to hold back as much as you can. That means no ice mirrors, Umi."

"Dammit," Umi sighed. "What about ice senbon?"

"It's bad enough you look like Deidara. No."

"Dammit!"

Sei rolled his eyes. "So I can't chameleon, either?"

Sasuke shook his head a negative. "And Kyo, don't use your fangs, all right? The only time any of you are permitted to use your special abilities is if your lives depend on it. That's an order from the Yunkage."

"Hai, sensei." Three voices chorused. Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes, just listening to the inane chatter of his students. He only opened them again when the commencement speech was being given, and then his eyes met glaring electric blue. Sasuke refused to instigate a fight here – there would be time enough after. Right now, the fighting belonged solely to the genin. They were the ones being judged after all.

When the speech was finally finished, Sasuke averted his gaze to the forms of his genin and watched them enclose around him like a protective circle. They were humming with energy, ready for the trial ahead. Names began to flash up on the board, a roulette tainted with nervousness and fear. Would the strong be pitted against the weak? The cunning against the genius? Would someone be hurt bad enough that they'd no longer qualify to be shinobi?

The first names popped up onto the board. Sasuke let out a silent, relieved breath. Snow and Rain. So it continued, every possible combination, and then Umi's name appeared on the board. Beside it, a kunoichi from the Land of Grass. Umi tightened her ponytail and nodded, moving from the catwalk to the floor below. Sasuke watched her crack her knuckles and tell herself the rules he'd set for her. Down came the Grass kunoichi and Sasuke felt a pang of regret for the girl.

Umi wasn't the type to go down fast or easy. This girl from the Grass carried herself with an air of superiority, exactly the type Umi liked to beat the shit out of. They stood across from one another, staring, until Umi shifted just a bit and bowed.

Sasuke groaned.

"Don't think you're gonna win," the Grass kunoichi said snidely. "Only real shinobi become chuunin."

Umi only smiled and canted her head. "Well, don't let me stop you."

The Grass kunoichi frowned and then threw herself back as Umi feinted forward. The blonde crouched and spun, leg jackknifing out to upset the other girl's balance. The follow through was spectacular – even as the Grass kunoichi leapt up to avoid Umi's incoming strike, he failed to realize Umi had twisted over, planting her hands and kicking up her opposite leg, catching her opponent square in the chin. Umi spun back to her feet and stepped lightly over to her fallen opponent, cocking her head but careful to stay out of arms reach. The other girl lay on the floor, blood trickling from her mouth. Umi winced and looked over at the proctor, giving Genma a weak smile.

"I think she bit her tongue off."

Genma stared for a good few minutes before he flicked his senbon to the left side of his mouth and sighed. "Tsukiyoshi Umi is the winner."

As the medic nins emerged to take care of the Grass ninja, Umi made her way back to her sensei and teammates. She sighed heavily as she sat against the wall, staring up at Sasuke and pouting.

"I didn't think she'd go down just from that," Umi said quietly. "I wanted it to last longer."

"You'll get your chance in round two," Sasuke assured her. "Now just watch the boys fight."

Umi wasn't thrilled with the prospect, but with a groan she sat down anyway. Maybe some entertainment would arise and she could at least yell.


	12. Chapter 12

XII

Sei knew his limits much better than other kids his age. He knew how much chakra he could spend before he got exhausted, what muscle twitch would send an enemy flying, and, thanks to his sensei and Zabuza-sensei, how to kill a man without weapons. He was one of the shortest genin present, so of course Murphy's Law would kick in and he would be forced to fight someone twice his size. And a girl, no less. Sei flicked his gaze to his sensei, taking note of the man's crossed arms. So his goal in this fight was to simply tire her out. He couldn't use his Kekkei Genkai and chameleon his way to victory. It would be like cheating for one thing, so he simply had to endure and pray his opponent didn't crush his skull in.

When they were given the go-ahead, Sei wasted no time in getting within his opponent's defenses. It wasn't a strike so much as a foray, looking for the kunoichi's weaknesses. His small size granted him fierce speed, so he turned it to his advantage and sought out her weaknesses and blind spots before he actually struck.

When he saw the kunoichi's grin, he realized the trap, and darted back before the concealed exploding tag had a chance to take off his face. He spared only a single glance toward his sensei, noted the still-crossed arms, and heaved a silent sigh. It was a test, Sei realized as he dodged a kunai, not only for chuunin but for Yunkage-sama and Sasuke-sensei as well. They wanted to see if he could fight – and win – if his cover was blown and he had no time to chameleon with his surroundings.

All right, fine. If that was how they wanted to play…

Sei darted forward, ducking beneath his opponent's fist, grabbing it in his own hands and pulling as he slid between the kunoichi's legs. She yelped as momentum pulled her off her feet and upended her on her back. Sei moved quickly, pulling his chakra thread from his obi and grabbing both his opponent's wrists. A moment later, she was hogtied and Sei was quietly making his way back to his sensei.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at his student and got a bored, sleepy look in return. The jounin only shook his head and sighed, watching Sei's name appear on the roster for round two. All his genin were crazy, Sasuke decided. Hell, everyone in Silk was fucked up in one way or another. He sighed and let his eyes drift over the gathered genin and senseis, careful not to let his eyes linger on familiar blonde as he let his gaze drift to the board.

Again the names flashed up, a roulette until two names were finally selected. Sasuke heard Umi gasp and watched as a young girl in a very familiar, obscenely orange jacket make her way to the floor. Momogi, Sasuke mused silently, a little miracle child all on her own. She was the oldest child in the odd generation, with the Sabaku twins right behind her, followed by Kinu's Akashi, Akio, Aoi, and Sasuke's own nephews.

Sasuke decided there all the gods had sick senses of humour and needed to stay out of mankind's business.

Momogi had a great legacy to live up to, as first niece to the Kazekage and first granddaughter of the Nara clan. Not only that, but the fact she was wearing one of Naruto's old jackets also added to what she had to work toward. Sasuke felt Umi come up beside him and tense, and wondered how his volatile kunoichi would react if Momogi failed this round.

Sharingan eyes followed every motion of the dance taking place below him. Momogi was good and when she pulled off Umi's trick tumble, Sasuke knew she was a quick learner by observation. The Nara girl moved quickly to get within her opponent's defenses – like Sei had done – and quickly planted two exploding tags on the other nin's shirt. Too late did the shinobi realize his cargo, and with a well-placed kick, Momogi sent him sprawling backwards. The tags exploded, kicking up dust and rubble.

- Don't relax, little girl, - Sasuke willed and relaxed in relief as Momogi leapt up into the air, twisting to kick down at her opponent as he surged up through the floor. Her kick spun him head over heels, and another kick forced him into a barrel roll. As they fell, Momogi planted both her feet on his sternum and kicked down, sending herself into a backward flip and her opponent into a mess of rubble. Sasuke canted his head and looked to Umi.

"That was the Lion's Barrage,"

"Nuh-uh," Umi said quickly, "that's the –Lioness– Barrage."

"Mm," Sasuke sighed. "I suppose you had nothing at all to do with that."

"Nope! Not a bit!" Umi replied too gaily. Sasuke shook his head.

"Go congratulate her. But just remember, it's not over."

Umi tossed her hair. "You worry too much, sensei."

Sasuke sighed. Perhaps he did worry too much, but then he wasn't innocent to the ways of the world anymore. Too many scars covered his body as reminders to failures and victories. He felt a tug on his shirt sleeve and looked down at Kyo.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, what about… my ability?" Kyo whispered nervously, looking about to cry. Sei took his right hand and held it tight, and Sasuke only placed his hand on the boy's head.

"I'll cross my arms over my chest; so long as my arms are like that, you can't use that ability. If you do, you'll get punished, understand?"

Kyo nodded slightly. Sasuke sighed and continued, "If I drop my arms, it means defend yourself. Use any means necessary."

"I don't wanna kill…"

"You won't. Orochimaru-sama is here."

That seemed to relax Kyo much more than any comforting ministrations had. The dark-haired boy nodded, clenched his hand around Sei's and took a deep breath before he made his way down to the floor, trying not to shake. It was like approaching an unfamiliar animal; other shinobi could sense fear and they would use it to their advantage. Kyo didn't want to give his opponent the advantage – and then the boy actually saw his opponent.

His opponent looked violent, and Kyo tried not to panic at the death glare he was receiving. He swallowed and ventured a greeting.

"Shut up, snake-bastard," the other boy spat. "I don't care what you call yourself now. It doesn't matter anyway. You die here today."

Kyo whimpered.


	13. Chapter 13

XIII

This was bad, really bad, as all Kyo could do was dodge and parry the vicious strikes made by his opponent. He knew every adult knew the killing strokes for what they were, just as he knew none could step in and save him or he would fail. He was on his own. The twelve-year-old ducked under a swipe and countered with one of his own, darting backwards, out of striking range.

"Coward!" the other boy was shouting, "Fucking coward! Fight like a man!"

Kyo was terrified. He didn't want to fight. He was only a shinobi because Sei was, because Sasuke-sensei believed in him. He hated violence and only wanted to end this peacefully. He gasped as he was tackled down and pinned, barely managing to get his kunai up in time to stave off a strike to his jugular. He shoved the other shinobi off him and rolled away.

"I don't wanna hurt you!" he hissed as the Konoha genin came at him again.

"Then make this easy and let me kill you!" the boy hissed back. They broke away and circled each other, kunai at the ready. Kyo fell into a roll as they boy charged, gasping out a choked cry as he realized he'd been tricked and the kunai opened up a bleeding flesh wound on his shoulder. He pressed a hand to the wound and moved away from his opponent, tears bright in his eyes.

"Oh, did I make the baby cry?" the Konoha genin snarled from behind. Kyo whirled and blocked the thrust for his heart – barely. He skipped away and glared at his opponent.

"I'm not gonna kill you quickly. Just enough so there's nothing to save. Then I'm gonna kill your pretty blonde girlfriend and the chick with one eye." The genin spat lowly, circling closer to Kyo. Without warning – and Kyo saw in that moment Sasuke dropped his arms – the Konoha genin charged forward and tackled him down again, pinning his wrists above his head. The Konoha genin leaned down, grinning madly.

"Why?" Kyo asked, almost breathless.

"Because you killed my parents. Because you and your traitor of a sensei destroyed Konoha. So I'm gonna kill you, and your fucking traitor sensei and you know what? I'll be a hero."

"No!"

"Yes! I'll be a hero and you'll just be the stuff of bad dreams."

The kid raised his kunai for a killing blow and then it was as if all time slowed for Kyo.

- "Why do we become ninja?" -

Sasuke-sensei? No, Kimimaru-san. – "Why?" –

- "To protect those we love," Kimimaru continued, speaking to a young Kyo. "To protect those who cannot defend themselves." -

- "But I don't want to kill." –

- "You don't need to. Being a shinobi isn't about killing – it's about protecting those we love with our very lives." –

Kyo jerked his head out of the path of the blade and felt it nick his ear. He ignored the pain and the warm, wet sensation, twisted his right wrist out of the Konoha shinobi's hold and crooked his index and middle fingers. Too late did the other boy see the viper's fangs, and Kyo's snake-teeth bit hard into the boy's shoulder at the juncture of his neck and collarbone. He shoved the Konoha genin off him then and rolled over him, pinning him to the floor, leaning too close to his face.

"Shinobi don't kill for revenge or joy. They kill to protect. And if you ever threaten Sei, Umi, or Sasuke-sensei again, you'll find me waiting for you and you won't like my idea of killing." Kyo hissed just before the boy fell unconscious. The entire room was silent as Kyo moved back, away from his fallen opponent so the medic nin could get Orochimaru's prepared anti-venom into the boy.

Kyo calmly made his way back to Sasuke and Sei and hugged his best friend tight. His eyes drifted then to his sensei and found approval in the crimson and ebon orbs. He'd found his calling as a shinobi and even if he did still get lost, he'd have Sei and Sasuke and Umi to find him. Those bonds he needed to protect and now he knew he had the strength to do so.


	14. Chapter 14

XIV

Orochimaru accepted the small cup of sake and toasted with Tsunade another exam over. The fights between the remaining genin had been quite exciting. Umi and Momogi had been pitted against each other and Umi proved victorious yet compassionate as she helped Momogi to her feet, still best friends despite the battle. Orochimaru knew of two who could learn from the girls. Kyo and Sei's fights had been particularly interesting, as each boy showed cunning and skill that they'd never displayed before.

The Council – most of the 'Kages and a few veteran ANBU – had decided to pass five into the ranks of chuunin: one from Snow, one from Mist, and all three Silk genin. Kyo was the only one who had been debated over, but after a convincing argument from his own sensei, the Council agreed to pass the boy. Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke had used his Ningyou Sharingan to help their decision along. A handy development, the Ningyou Sharingan – actually able to implant subtle thoughts into a target's brain upon eye contact. Orochimaru had yet to figure out how exactly Sasuke had developed it, since Itachi didn't have it.

"So you wanted a private audience," Tsunade said. "Here we are. No bodyguards around."

Orochimaru smiled and shook his head, pulling his attention away from the voices of Kura-ou and Shizune, the women exchanging medic techniques of the killing sort. "So we are."

"What is it you wanted?"

Orochimaru down his shot and sighed. "I'm old, Tsunade. You know it, I know it. I'm ready to retire, I mean really retire. Go on a long vacation somewhere, pass the reins to another."

"You have someone in mind, I take it." Tsunade replied, settling her hip on the corner of her desk and pouring her old teammate another shot of sake.

"Mm. And he's proven himself capable on many occasions. He's been acting Yunkage a couple of times so he knows the ropes. He'll be good at it. The thing is, his rival is aspiring to be Hokage and how do we keep him from finding out too soon?"

Tsunade nursed her cup for a moment. "He'll find out one way or another."

"Of course. As much as they repel, they attract. Wouldn't be at all surprised if they started fucking."

"You want my approval?"

"Just letting you know so you can deal with the other 'Kages." Orochimaru replied succinctly, grinning at the woman.

"Temari will be easy enough, but those who just got used to you being… hell, you owe me."

"The ANBU of Kinugakure have already agreed to become your slaves in time of need."

"Ah, well then." Tsunade fell quiet for a moment. "How soon do you want this to happen?"

"When we return to Silk, I'll make it official then. I'll stick around for a few weeks until Sasuke threatens to kill me, and then Kimimaru and I will go on vacation." Orochimaru replied.

"Who will replace Kimimaru?"

"He's been training Kura-ou, actually. Her skills are far too valuable to waste on just bodyguarding."

"You've been planning this all along, haven't you?"

"You caught me," Orochimaru said with a grin. "Sasuke's been groomed for this position since I formed Team Nine."

"That's quite a while."

"Almost four years," Orochimaru agreed. "Give Sasuke a few months to shed the jounin-sensei skin. Then send Naruto along with Shizune for a cover. Once Naruto and Sasuke reconcile, you'll be able to step down at let the idiot take over, and have quite the ally at your southern borders."

"And you?"

"I'll return to Kinu and teach, I suppose. Besides, Kyo will need special training once he hits puberty."

"You'll need to give me a detailed description of his history. The venom he used – if it weren't for your antidote we would've lost Shoue."

"I'll give you more than a history, my dear Tsunade." Orochimaru promised. "But one thing at a time. First we'll take care of my abdication and then we'll discuss Kyo."

Tsunade nodded and moved behind her desk to retrieve a pen and parchment. After several arguments and rough drafts, they had a perfect letter to photocopy and send to each 'Kage informing them of the power change in Silk. Tsunade sat behind her desk after Orochimaru had left, staring at the sunset. When it rose tomorrow, it would rise on a brand new future, one Konoha and Kinu would walk together.


	15. Chapter 15

XV

Even after weeks had passed since his formal induction into the office of Yunkage, Sasuke still felt uncomfortable. It really wasn't so bad – he could take short breaks to exercise and to eat – but it was tedious work. He read reports and mission requests, apprehensive and continuously second-guessing if he shouldn't have sent a higher ranked ninja on this or that mission. If it weren't for Haku forcing him to learn how to play Go, Sasuke probably would've gone insane. He'd get used to being the law in a few months, he was sure, but he still felt like he wasn't ready and it unnerved him.

Orochimaru and Kimimaru had gone on an extended vacation and weren't to be disturbed unless it was a dire emergency.  
Life was relatively simple in Silk. Sasuke just had to read papers and sign papers and he only had to wear the formal wear when meeting with the Black ANBU, as most had taken to calling the elite ninja from Silk. Silk herself was an oddity, because most chuunin and jounin wore black or earth toned flak jackets with no affiliation and some wore none at all. Sasuke knew it was personal preference, but most had gotten the camouflage speech from Zabuza one too many times. So now most shinobi from Kinugakure wore something that would help them blend with their surroundings instead of something that made them a walking target. Sasuke sighed, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his eyes, tired from looking at text for most of the morning. His life mostly was run by a strict schedule. Haku made sure he went through all of his paperwork – which just seemed to keep piling up – and ate.

He didn't have much time to devote to his nephews as their Sharingans developed, but he needn't really worry since Itachi and Kisame had, apparently, faked their deaths if only to stay with their sons. He also didn't have time to work with his former genin, now chuunin, and he missed those outings. Oh, he could still take them – only now ANBU followed him in the shadows. He was sure background checks were done on the people he spoke with too.

Sasuke swiveled on his chair so he could look out onto the village, smiling softly at the sight of children – pre-genin and civilian – running and playing together. The gardens were being tended and the schoolyard was filled with the classes that were having recess. How had Sasuke had fought to keep recess for the Kinu Academy. He'd argued that recess gave the children a chance to run around and clear their minds; it gave them the opportunity to do better in academics. Since he was Nidaime Yunkage, the parents really couldn't argue, but Sasuke allowed a study to be done. Twenty children, both shinobi and civilian, were given recess in between two three hour long lectures and twenty, both shinobi and not, were forced to sit through the six hour long lecture. Both were tested. The average highest score came from the recess group and so recess stayed.

But just as soon as he won one battle, another arose for him to triumph over. Except this coming battle he knew would end in a draw rather than victory for either party. Tsunade had sent a missive stating Shizune was coming to study at Kinugakure's hospital. It was complete bullshit, Sasuke knew, but he couldn't refuse without stirring up questions he didn't want to answer. For, you see, Shizune's escort just happened to be a certain blonde jounin with a grudge against Sasuke.

That in itself wasn't such a problem.

The problem was that Naruto had no idea Sasuke was Yunkage.

And after striving for years to be Hokage, discovering Sasuke had attained the desired rank before him would rankle.

Sasuke snorted. It would do more than rankle. It would, quite possibly, create even more of a rift between them that would be unable to heal for the rest of their lives.

Sasuke could live with people hating him – it was something he'd worked very hard to do, after all – but living with the next Hokage's hatred of Kinugakure he couldn't. So his first order of business was to get Naruto to understand that. Just as he was about to rise his chair to get something cold to drink his office door slammed open.

"Yo, snake-bastard!"

Damn it.

"Orochimaru is no longer here, Naruto." Sasuke said as he turned to face the blonde, staring at the obscene orange jacket and the obscenely cut blonde spikes.

Immediately, Naruto's face closed off. "Did he die? Or did he take your body?"

Sasuke wanted to beat his head against his desk. "No. He went on vacation with Kimimaru."

"So you're acting."

"No."

"You're really…?"

"Nidaime Yunkage."

There was silence for a long while. Then Naruto exploded.

"God dammit! You're always doing this to me! Taking what I want, being better! You don't have to work for anything! The great Uchiha Sasuke, child prodigy, now the fucking Nidaime Yunkage!"

"Are you done?" Sasuke asked blandly. Naruto gave him a withering glare.

"Look," Sasuke continued. "I didn't want this position. It chose me, and now I can't back out of it. At first I didn't like it, but it's grown on me. All the hype I got as a kid was because of my last name – not me. If you'd care to notice, our roles became reversed not too long ago."

Naruto was deadly silent. "So?"

Sasuke heaved a sigh and sat back down, propping his chin on his fist. "So what? What do you want me do to, Naruto? 'Nya, nya, I'm a 'Kage first'? Grow up. All I want is for you to understand that you can hate me, but don't hate my village and my shinobi because of me."

"Do you think I'm that low?"

"No. I think you're a very intelligent, highly skilled jounin. But when you're in a position of power, things like old rivalries and hatreds become a factor you have to contend with."

Naruto blinked and visibly relaxed. "You think I'm intelligent?"

Sasuke nodded once. "I always did. Your ideas were stupid sometimes, but if it's stupid and works it isn't stupid."

"Then why did you betray us? Why did you leave if you thought I…?"

"Your intelligence or lack of it wasn't why I left. I wanted power, Naruto." Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment. "But it did me little good. I grew up. I learned from my mistakes. We created a village. My genin, my nephews – had I stayed in Konoha, they and others like them would never had the chances they do now."

Sasuke watched those fiery sapphire eyes darken in thought. He finally rose and stepped around his desk to Naruto, placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Just because I defected and avoided you for years doesn't mean I hate you." Sasuke whispered.

"But it means you don't like me."

"You're still so naïve." Sasuke said. "No, I do like you. The reason I defected was for power – you were so much stronger than I. The reason I avoided you for years is because I was ashamed to show my face to you. I don't hate you, Naruto. I love you."

"What?" Naruto questioned after a long, silent moment. But he received no answer, for Sasuke had already fled.


	16. Chapter 16

XVI

Naruto spent most of his time mulling over Sasuke's words. He hadn't seen much of the Yunkage; glimpses here and there but never enough to determine how Sasuke was actually feeling. Naruto wasn't even sure if he wanted to confront Sasuke now, but their confrontation was long over due. He needed to talk to Sasuke, without hostility, and so he waited. The blonde jounin thought back on the past, thought back to every incident during their childhood. Sasuke had almost died for him on numerous occasions – hatred didn't allow for self-sacrifice. Sasuke and Naruto had shared the occasional touch; often they had curled up together for warmth on missions when Kakashi had forgotten to bring an extra tent for the boys.

He'd sacrificed for Sasuke. Hatred didn't allow for that. Naruto had known for a long time since hitting puberty no one but Sasuke would do it for him. Oh, he'd tried plenty of times with people from both sides of the fence, but it never was enjoyable for him or his partner. He'd just started to use his hand – it was as good as anything – and then he ignored his sex drive completely. Why bother having sex with someone you know you don't love? Seems like a complete waste of energy.

So after some Naruto-alone time, the blonde jounin went in search of the one person he knew could help him win over Sasuke.  
Haku.

He found the irritating tranny surrounded by a group of boys – all genin save for two – and just stood there grinning at the idea of Momma-Haku.

"Oh, not all of them are mine," Haku said when he noticed Naruto's grin. "Only that one. And I'm his father."

Naruto burst out laughing.

After Haku had shooed the boys away to play and Naruto had gotten control of himself once more, Haku finally asked what the blonde wanted.

"I need help. I wanna win Sasuke back."

"Good luck with that," Haku replied. "Sasuke's not one for the casual fuck."

"And you are?"

"When Zabuza's around, yeah."

"That's not what I meant."

"Take a joke, Naruto. Look, Sasuke's, ah, well. He's a virgin. I mean, he's gotten offers, but he's turned them all down. I can only think he's been waiting for you, but he won't let you go after."

"Good, because I don't want to let him go."

"And when you become Hokage? What then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Haku paused. "You'd be Hokage. Sasuke'd be Yunkage. You'd both be leaders of separate villages and you wouldn't be able to just arbitrarily up and leave to see each other."

"The ultimate long distance relationship, huh?"

Haku made a sound of agreement. "He'd wait as long as it takes."

"He's waited long enough," Naruto replied. "Tsunade's still kicking. I won't become Hokage for a while, but… we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I won't let Sasuke go a second time."

Haku grinned. "Well, in that case, welcome to Sasuke-education 101."

Sasuke decided trying to win an argument against a woman – however small she was – was like fighting an uphill battle. You were bound to become hamburger at some point and there was something about female logic that defied male thinking. Still, he'd had to commend Umi on her distraction and gave her extra guard duty as punishment. When he discovered she hadn't been the only one in on the plot, he decided the extra tour on the wall had been too lenient.

Haku would be more properly punished with an extra duty in the schoolyard.

Still, Sasuke was innocent of all knowledge of Haku's involvement at this moment in time. The Nidaime slipped into his house and rubbed his neck, pausing after a moment when he heard utter silence.

"All right. Enough games. What the hell is going on?"

"A much needed night of relaxation." Naruto said as he appeared in the doorway. Sasuke frowned.

"Where are my nephews?"

"Ah, Itachi came by. Said he and Kisame were going to take them to see Konoha. So it's just you and me."

Sasuke heaved a sigh but allowed Naruto to draw him up and into his arms nonetheless. Sasuke blinked and looked up at the blonde. "You made dinner?"

"More than that."

Sasuke followed Naruto to the kitchen where a nice meal waited for two and they set about eating and conversing. It was a civil meal and Sasuke held no idea of ulterior motives. Naruto asked, Sasuke answered and vice versa. When they were sharing an after dinner cup of tea, Naruto asked the big question.

"Your nephews, they came about how?"

Sasuke stared at his tea for a while. "A scroll Haku found years ago. Something about it gave those who touched it the ability to have kids. We haven't figured out how yet, but it was something to do with wanting life."

"Do you want kids?"

"I'm not sure I'd be a good parent." Sasuke answered. "Besides,"

"Besides?" Naruto ventured. Sasuke mumbled something incoherent. "What?"

"I can't see myself having a family with anyone but you." Sasuke whispered with a slight blush.

Naruto gave the smaller man a small smile. "Good."

"What?"

"I said good. Because I love you too."

Naruto grinned at Sasuke's blush and surged out of his chair over to the Nidaime, drawing him up and into a deep kiss. For the longest time, Sasuke was tense, and then he gradually began to relax, to return the kiss. When they broke away, Naruto found himself quite hungry for the brunette. One look in Sasuke's eyes – and upon seeing no Sharingan – Naruto knew how much Sasuke trust him in this moment.

"Ready?"

"For what?"

"The next step."

Sasuke paused, then nodded. Naruto smiled and pulled Sasuke toward his – their – bedroom. He didn't bring up the scroll as they walked hand in hand. Give themselves a few years of being by themselves, he decided. There was plenty of time left for children.


	17. Chapter 17

XVII

Sasuke arched beautifully beneath Naruto's mouth, sweat making his skin shine in the moonlight that filtered through the window. Their third round, and Naruto had already made the trip to Kimimaru's office for that scroll. They'd talked – a long discussion that ended in a mutual agreement. They would try. Once. If it didn't happen, well, then they didn't need a legacy. Secretly Naruto hoped Sasuke did get pregnant, if only so he could have a kid he could dump on Shikamaru for a little bit of revenge. Imagine, an Uchiha-Uzumaki. Emo and trouble in one little body.

Naruto lapped at Sasuke's stomach where the little hopeful would grow and fisted his lover's cock, stroking just enough to tease. Sasuke was beautiful, as much as he denied it, and Naruto was only too happy to point it out. He smiled as he heard the little quiet mewls and the hastily covered begging and shifted to sit up, between Sasuke's legs. He stroked the brunette's hardened shaft as he studied his lover, admiring the ebony eyes and snow-pale skin. He was a stark contrast to Naruto himself, blonde and lightly tanned skin from spending hours in the sun. They hadn't spoken since the discussion about children, but Naruto didn't really care. There were more ways to communicate than speech. Sasuke's arching into Naruto's hand told the blonde his love was ready for invasion. The way Naruto's hand leisurely moved up and down on Sasuke's need told the brunette Naruto wanted to draw it out just a bit longer.

Still, in the end, Naruto pulled his hand away and placed his hands behind Sasuke's knees, pushing them up as close to the brunette's ears as he could. His tongue lightly probed Sasuke's already stretched passage just enough to wet it once more before he positioned himself and slid into that wonderfully tight heat. Even after three rounds, he still loved the sensation of Sasuke around him, the pulsing heat. He pressed closer, deeper, and finally began to move after receiving an aborted yelp of intense pleasure. He moved smoothly, knowing exactly where to hit to make Sasuke come, but he held back, drawing out the pleasure this time. Slowly, his hips pistoned, electric blue heated with love and he smiled at the equally heated coal black that stared back.  
The first two times had been fast, of exploration and learning. This time, this coupling had an agenda. Naruto wanted them to wake up in the morning and not regret the night's decision. Gradually, he began to pick up speed, slamming into Sasuke and earning cries that were of pure pleasure. He would owe Haku one, most definitely. Sasuke was clutching to him soon enough, biting onto his shoulder to muffle his sounds and Naruto nearly lost it from that. Somehow, he held back and only thrust harder into Sasuke, slamming deeper and deeper until Sasuke let out that final scream. Then stars exploded behind Naruto's eyes once more as Sasuke's inner walls clamped down tight and pulsed around him. Naruto felt hot liquid spatter against his chest and gave a few more thrusts as the wave finally crashed over him. His own seed filled Sasuke and Naruto managed to catch himself in time before he fell and crushed his lover.

He pulled free of Sasuke's body and rolled beside him, breathing harshly, smiling as Sasuke tucked himself against Naruto's side. When Naruto believed Sasuke to be asleep, he extricated himself from the brunette's hold and moved to stare out the window up at the moon. He heard Sasuke shift and turned to find ebony staring back at him.

"Think I'll ever become Hokage?"

Sasuke smiled. "Of course you will."

Naruto grinned and returned to bed, curling around Sasuke.

"Just don't let it get to your head." Sasuke whispered.

Naruto laughed.

Owari


End file.
